


I See Stars

by thatwasanticlimactic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Hurt/Comfort, Jet is Regina so he gets in an accident, M/M, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Sokka is Cady, Zuko is Aaron, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, also zukka, it's a Mean Girls (broadway) au is what i'm saying, jet and sokka become friends, mostly comfort, sokka is a math nerd, sokka is also awkward, sokka is bad at public speaking, sokka is trying okay, zuko is an english nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26810917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwasanticlimactic/pseuds/thatwasanticlimactic
Summary: “You wanna know the secret to being happy, Sokka?” asked Jet, nodding in appreciation as he crutched into the hallway. “You gotta stop caring about what other people think about you. Seriously. Who cares? If I cared, I would’ve dropped out of school and given up on bringing my parents justice a long time ago. You’re fine as you are. Stop trying to be someone different because it’s stupid. I’ll start over as the real Jet if it’s with the real Sokka.”After Jet got injured in an accident, the whole school thought Sokka was to blame. He didn't mean for it to happen, really, he didn't! But there was no fixing everything he did wrong. A conversation with Jet, though, surprisingly ends up clearing a lot of things up, including how to fix things with Zuko.aka a oneshot based off of a drawing by / conversation with sokka-with-his-hair-down on tumblr prompted by October 3rd being Mean Girls Day and Zukka being a pretty great ship
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), minor or background Suki/Yue
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	I See Stars

**Author's Note:**

> For preference:  
> Sokka = Cady  
> Jet = Regina  
> Freedom Fighters = Plastics  
> Zuko = Aaron
> 
> What happened before this takes place is essentially the same as what happens in the Mean Girls movie and musical: Cady (Sokka) likes Aaron (Zuko), runs into problems with Regina (Jet), makes friends who don't like Jet, tries to sabotage Jet much like Cady did in the movie / musical and ends up going too far deep.

Sokka glared at himself in the bathroom mirror, hands furiously trying to tame his hair. Normally, he wouldn’t mind if his usual wolf tail was a bit messy at the top, but when he saw Zuko, it needed to be perfect and he kept finding bumps at the top of his head when it was supposed to be flat and nice and pretty!

To say he was nervous would be an understatement. He had done a lot of damage at school, even if it was unintentional, and no one really liked him right now, Zuko certainly didn't (and even if he did, he probably _shouldn’t_ ). The worst part was, it was entirely his fault. He had ignored his friends, he had thrown a party when he wasn't supposed to, he had puked on Zuko, he had fed Jet food that was bad for him, he had gone out of his way to break Zuko and Jet up, he had written bad things about his own sister in the Freedom Fighter's stupid book so he would look cool, he refused to own up to his actions at the assembly. _He_ did it all. It was only due to encouragement from Katara and the rest of the mathletes that he even came to the Spring Fling dance, and really only then just so he could apologize to his real friends (and Zuko if he had the courage).

Looking at himself in the mirror, Sokka saw a whole different person than he had the past year. Rather than wearing the traditional mathletes jacket, he had gotten permission from Piando to wear his qulittuq, one more suited for warmer temperatures, that is. After months of disregarding his culture to fit in with the Freedom Fighters… it felt safe to be back in clothing that was _his_.

Sokka lightly splashed some water in his face. “Get it together, _get it together_ ,” he muttered, trying to ignore the queasiness he felt. He flashed a smile at his reflection. It was too big. Then another. Too small. Then a third--

“What the hell are you doing?”

Sokka whipped around so fast that he almost tripped over his own feet. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard anyone walk in or flush the toilet. And there was Jet, perhaps the biggest victim of his foolishness and greed. “J-Jet,” he whispered, swallowing thickly. “Uhh nothing! I was doing n-nothing at all.” He laughed wearily.

The injured boy rolled his eyes before walking over to the sink to wash his hands, resting his crutches on the wall beside him. All Sokka could focus on was the awful eye-catching spinal halo he wore and the thick, _empty_ , cast that covered his left leg.

Guilt was the only emotion he could process feeling at the sight. The accident was nearly a month ago, but Sokka still dreamt about it. Each night he was tormented with the sight of Jet running out of the assembly, Jet getting on his motorcycle, him yelling Jet’s name, Jet turning his head, Jet losing control of the bike, Jet riding up a harsh curb and flying off of his bike, Jet’s spine hitting that rock… 

“You, um, you clean up nice, Jet,” he mustered up the courage to say, berating himself for not running out of the bathroom and then the school and then let his dad ground him even more for going to the mathletes competition _and_ school dance while already grounded. That would be better than this. It was true, though. Jet was an attractive guy (not as attractive as Zuko, but Zuko is literally the most beautiful person on the planet, kind of hard to one-up him in the looks department). He looked good with his shaggy brown hair just as unkempt as ever (the messy hair look really worked for him, though), a freshly pressed dark grey dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, matching pants, and loose rustic orange colored tie just visible between the metal.

Jet finished washing his hands, raising an eyebrow. “I’m wearing a spinal halo,” he deadpanned.

“It’s-it’s a pretty spinal halo,” Sokka spluttered desperately. He got a choppy chuckle in response. The mathlete took a deep breath, trying to calm down before he made himself look like more of an idiot than he already was. He focused his gaze on the ground. “Look, I’m really sorry I inadvertently broke your spine… and leg. I feel so bad and if there’s any way I can make it up to you--”

An annoyed groan cut him off. Sokka looked up to see Jet stiffly leaning against the sink. “Stop making this about you. I’m the one who got in an accident.”

Sokka nodded. “Yeah, but, um, I’m sorry about other stuff too. Lots of other stuff, that is. Like, making all of your Freedom Fighters turn on you, humiliation and deception, stealing your stuff…” he trailed off sheepishly.

“Yeah, I was there,” scoffed Jet. “I’m going to forgive you, though. Mostly because I’m on lots of pain meds right now, but also because I’m trying this whole ‘being a good person’ thing and forgiveness seems like something I should probably do.”

“Wait, really?”

“That’s what I said.” Jet paused, gaze flickering to his cast. “You know I almost died, right? I could feel it comin’. Got lucky, though. That the paramedics came as fast as they did.”

“Wow, I-I didn’t know that. You must have been so scared,” replied Sokka, his right leg jittering.

Jet hummed. “I guess. I woke up for a moment after it happened. It hurt more than anything I had ever felt in my whole life. I saw Smellerbee and Longshot looking down at me, I think they were trying to talk to me? I couldn’t hear them, just this muffled static. They looked surprised.”

Sokka had been surprised too. Perhaps it was more of a shock than anything.

Another barely audible chuckle came from Jet’s mouth before he continued. “They didn’t look sad or worried, they were just _surprised_. Like, wow Jet can feel things? Jet can bleed? Jet is a real human person?” His voice wavered, fists clenching. “People always forget that I’m human too. They act like I’m some immortal God haunting the Earth until I avenge my parents. Or like I’m this brave warrior because I still lived my life after watching my parents die. I mean, yeah I’m still trying to find who killed them and I’m still mad, but people used to look at me like I was this helpless child so I had to be brave, ya know? So, now everyone thinks I’m this brave guy who can never be touched.”

The thing that hurt his heart the most is that Sokka knew it was true. With as much time he had spent with Jet, he often forgot that he was human. He always forgot that Jet was still _just a kid_. Seeing Jet soaring through the air and on the verge of death, with a broken leg and spine was almost unreal. It hadn’t felt real.

“You are brave, though,” Sokka spoke up honestly. “I mean, like, really. It’s weird when people think you’re so brave and _cool_ or something. Not that we’re on the same level of coolness or anything, I mean, recently I--”

“I understand,” Jet interrupted, a far away, forlorn look on his face. “It’s amazing and fulfilling until it’s not anymore. Until people forget you’re real.” He sighed, shaking his head ever so slightly as to not jostle his spinal halo. “I know I have to change. I was-- _am_ \-- angry and mean and manipulative. I’m a dick. I know I am. I’d rather be a dick than silenced, though. Just gotta think before I speak, I guess.”

The shaggy-haired boy grabbed his crutches, tucking on under each arm then made his way towards the door. “Wait!” called Sokka. He bit his lip as Jet shuffled around to face him, a slightly exasperated stare thrown his way. “I’m just-- I’m sorry if I took your spot on the school food chain. It was an accident, well, not really, but it _started_ as an accident and--”

“Dude,” smirked Jet. “Just shut up. I don’t care, really. I’m sick of being the brave, popular kid anyways. You distracted me but I should have been paying attention when I was riding. Don’t apologize for things that aren’t your fault. Makes you look weak and like a self-deprecating loser. Learned that the hard way.” With that, he turned back around and hobbled to the door.

Sokka raced ahead of him, grabbing the door handle and opening it for him. “Here, I got it,” he said. “Thank you. It means a lot that you shared that with me. I’m… I’m willing to start over, if you are, that is?”

“You wanna know the secret to being happy, Sokka?” asked Jet, nodding in appreciation as he crutched into the hallway. “You gotta stop caring about what other people think about you. Seriously. Who cares? If I cared, I would’ve dropped out of school and given up on bringing my parents justice a long time ago. You’re fine as you are. Stop trying to be someone different because it’s stupid. I’ll start over as the real Jet if it’s with the real Sokka.”

Jet was gone before Sokka could respond.

A smile graced his lips. “Okay,” he muttered. “Okay. Time to show this school the real Sokka. You can do this.” He took a deep breath. “No big deal. Just gotta walk into a room filled with people who hate you. If Jet can do it, so can you.”

* * *

The gym was filled with people, music blaring loudly. Sokka could feel his anxiety stirring up at the sound alone. Zuko probably hated how crowded and loud it was too (if he was here). He always hated crowds. And loud noises. He hated a lot of things. It was cute.

Pushing his nervousness as far down as possible, he scanned the crowd for his friends, or the people he hoped would still want to be friends after he apologized. After a couple of minutes of searching, he spotted Katara. As if she could feel his uneasy stare, she looked up, her brown eyes lighting up upon seeing him and Spirits, he was grateful he had the best and most forgiving sister ever. She beckoned him forward, tilting her head at the people around her: Toph, Aang, Suki, and Yue.

“Here goes nothing.” Sokka squirmed his way through the crowd of dancing people as gently as possible, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Baby steps. He could only reconcile with one group of people at a time.

He cleared his throat upon arriving, drawing the attention of everyone in the circle. “Hey, guys. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Toph snorted. “Nope. I’m busy right now. My date and I are hooking up. Suki, come here--” the younger girl blindly searched for Suki’s wrist, grasping it tightly when she found it and pulling the older teen down to her height, lips puckered.

“Ew, Toph, no!” Suki giggled, yanking her arm free. “I’m not kissing you when my girlfriend’s right here!”

“So, what I’m hearing is you’ll kiss me when Yue leaves?” Toph wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

“Shut up,” Suki grinned, lightly punching Toph’s arm.

The scene was so familiar it almost hurt. Sokka watched the interaction before him longingly, mesmerized by how much it reminded him of the beginning of the year. How Suki and Yue stood as one, hands tangled together as an extension of themselves. How naturally Toph wore a suit rather than a dress, her feet bare like usual. It was almost like a strand of normalcy, seeing Toph without her shoes. How Aang and Katara were almost leaning onto each other like they usually did. He missed this.

“I’m sorry!” he blurted out. “Like, really sorry. You guys were the best friends anyone could ask for and I blew it.”

“Yeah, you did,” Toph stated bluntly.

“I know. And I just want to apologize and beg for your forgiveness and--”

He was cut off by feedback from a microphone. “Alright, students. It’s time to announce this year’s Spring Fling Queen and King!” Principal Pakku said as the music stopped and silence fell over the crowd.

“So, what I’m trying to say is--” Sokka tried again.

“Wait, I wanna hear this!” Yue shushed, turning towards Principal Pakku with interest.

“Ugh. Fine,” he grumbled.

“Our Spring Fling Queen is… Azula Sozin!” Pakku revealed.

The gym erupted with applause, parting so Azula could walk through. The younger girl looked stunning, as usual, clad in a deep red dress that billowed behind her (the color reminded him of Zuko). Sokka really couldn’t say he was surprised. Honestly, he would’ve been more shocked if she _didn’t_ win. Even though this was his first year at school, he saw how Azula commanded attention, he saw how hungry she was for the crown.

“Ugh, _of course_ Azula won,” groaned Yue, watching distastefully as a golden crown was placed a top her head. “She always wins.”

“I voted for you,” assured Suki, nudging the other girl’s shoulder.

“And finally, our Spring Fling King is… Sokka Nakashuk!”

Sokka nearly choked on his own spit. “What?” he squeaked.

Everyone in the room fell silent and he could feel their eyes on him. “This has to have been a mistake!” he whisper-shouted. “Everyone hates me!”

“Just go up there!” hissed Katara, pushing him forward.

He stumbled, barely managing to catch himself before he fell to the floor. As he turned, he could just barely see the beginnings of smiles on all of his friends’ faces. Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t be that terrible. What had Jet said? _You’re fine as you are?_

His footsteps echoed as he strode to the platform, nervously grinning whenever he accidentally caught someone’s eye. Despite how embarrassed and out of place he felt, he still scanned the room, praying he would find the one person he longed to see more than anyone. “Don’t hunch,” he said under his breath. “Wear you qulittuq proud.”

The walk to the platform was uncomfortable. Considering everything that happened throughout the year, he knew he didn’t deserve it. If anything, he deserved it least out of everyone in the room. 

Principal Pakku handed him a plastic silver crown when he got there. Before he could even turn to stand by Azula, his instincts took over. “Could I possibly say something?” he asked, the words flying out of his mouth without giving his brain time to process what he said.

“Like, a speech?” Pakku questioned.

Sokka nodded. “Kind of. Just like, something short.”

Pakku grunted but stepped aside so he could take the mic. Why was he doing this? Public speaking was his worst nightmare and he was _terrible_ at it. Like, went from a straight A student to almost failing speech class bad at it.

For whatever reason, he went through with it, clearing his throat before he spoke. “Um, so I know most people probably just voted for me because they think I was the reason Jet got in an accident, which is terrible, and um, well, you shouldn’t-- you shouldn’t vote for someone who did something like that.” He stopped speaking, eyes widening with fear because it finally sunk in that he was doing this and _everyone was watching him_. “I mean, I didn’t get him in an accident, at least, I don’t think I did? It wasn’t intentional, is what I’m trying to say, if I did do it…”

His throat felt dry, and Spirits, he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t. The urge to run off the stage and throw up was growing stronger every second he stood there. Again, _why did he do this?_ Azula hadn't said anything when she won, what made him think he should?

Then, almost by fate, by absolute chance, Sokka turned his head then looked up and met a pair of golden eyes. Of familiar gold eyes. He did a double take, blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things and nope, he wasn’t. Residing in a secluded corner of the room was Zuko. Zuko was here. He came after all.

His black hair was brushed while still maintaining its natural messiness. He wore a dress shirt as red as Azula’s dress with sleek black pants, the matching jacket flung over his shoulder. His lips twitched and Sokka realized he was staring, which just made his awkward speech even more awkward.

_You’re fine as you are._

Breathe. Remember to breathe. “And, a… friend, yeah, a friend told me not to apologize for things that aren’t my fault, so I’ll listen to him. I didn’t cause the accident. But, I did do some pretty bad stuff.” He paused, rubbing his arm and shuffling his feet. “What I will apologize for is the way I treated my friends and sister and all of you.” He gestured to the crowd. “So, I’m sorry. Jet, Katara, Aang, Toph, Suki, Yue… Zuko… everyone. I’m sorry for lying and being the biggest jerk ever and manipulating everyone. That’s not me. At least, I don’t want that to be me. What I want to be is a mathlete. And a brother. And a friend. Funny and sarcastic, I used to be the meat and sarcasm guy…” he trailed off.

“I-I’m pretty terrible at public speaking--”

“You know, if you think you’re so bad at it, you don’t _have_ to do it. Most people take the crown and leave,” murmured Pakku.

“No, I’m still gonna do it,” he responded. “I’m almost done, though, I think.”

The principal grimaced but waved him on still.

“I’m awful at public speaking, but what I’m saying is I am so sorry for everything I did. If no one wants anything to do with me anymore, I get it. No matter what, I’ll treat you with dignity and respect, like I should have in the first place,” he continued.

“Katara and I-- we were new and I was stupid and scared to leave my friends back home and I wanted everyone to like me so badly. I didn’t want to be that weird kid from Canada that everyone was embarrassed to be around and I lost myself in the process. I th-think, I think we all do that sometimes, you know? We care so much about what everyone thinks about us and we hide who we are because it’s different. I love math. And physics. I do math problems for fun at home! Like, who does that? It’s so weird… but it’s me, I guess. And it makes me happy.”

In a moment of fear because _he just said all of that out loud in front of the entire school_ , he shifted his gaze back to Zuko. His lips were still twitching, but his eyes had lit up, brightening the entire room. Zuko always smiled more with his eyes anyways. He glanced at Katara and all of his former but hopefully soon to be current friends. Toph was nodding, a pleased look on her face. Suki winked at him when she caught him looking. Aang was grinning like there was no tomorrow. Yue and Katara both looked more proud than anything. Their non-manual encouragement was grounding. And in that moment, he knew he was forgiven.

He toyed with the crown as he spoke to calm his nerves, running his fingers along the rough edges, tracing the oddly shaped curves. “I don’t deserve this,” he admitted. “And, when I stand here and see all of-of you, I just. Wow,” He sighed, taking pride in the fact that for the first time ever, he didn’t mentally berate himself for stuttering. “I wish you could see yourselves the way I see you. You’re awesome. _Pitsialuaviktok_. And this crown, this thing that everyone fought for, it’s… if I wanted to, I could break it.” And he did. One of the edge pieces of the crown cracked under his fingers. “It’s all plastic! It’s cheap and fake and so freaking easy to break!”

The piece felt heavy in his hands, unnatural and wrong because it wasn't meant to be his. “Yue, you look stunning tonight, I mean, you always do, but, you know what I mean. Here, you deserve this.” He walked to the front of the platform, as close as he could get to his friend, and tossed it in her direction.

The girl caught it, her cheeks flushed, a silly grin encompassing her face. _Thank you_ , she mouthed at him, taking the piece and fitting it into her hair.

“I mean, really, there are so many people here who deserve this, deserve this honor,” he mused, voice increasing in volume as he went. Sokka fumbled for a second, breaking off another piece. “Mai, I’m pretty sure I saw you smiling tonight, and you _never_ smile. You have a wonderful smile, but your face is wonderful without it too-- or I mean, you don’t have to smile if you don’t want to, it’s just cool to see you happy.” Usually, he would be burying his head in shame after saying something like that, so chopped and broken and confusing, but he was on a roll and at this point he just didn't care. He wasn't lying and he wasn't going to hide.

The quiet girl quirked a brow in response, and he supposed it was her way of showing happiness or gratitude or whatever it was. Either way, he threw the second piece to her, and she caught it swiftly.

“Haru, man, not many people our age can pull off a mustache like that, but you do!” A third chunk was thrown to him, and Haru caught it with ease, pumping his fist in the air.

“Pipsqueak, you’re looking fine tonight! I mean, look at him guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! He didn’t even wear a suit to this thing and he still looks fire!”

The tall teen flushed at the compliment, standing up a little straighter and prouder, eagerly snatching piece number four out of the air.

“Toph, you are quite honestly the most terrifying, fun, honest, and proudly individualistic person I have ever met. You are _rocking_ that suit, by the way!”

“Oh, stop with the sappy stuff and give it here!” she called out. And there went the fifth piece.

“Jet, you still look flawless even with a spinal halo! You’re shining tonight, dude, really, you are.” And Sokka tossed the sixth piece at his former enemy.

Filled with an energy like never before, he broke the crown into as many pieces as possible, throwing them out into the audience. Aang jumped high and caught two, placing one in his pocket and handing the other to Katara.

There was one final piece of the crown left, and Sokka knew exactly who he wanted it to go to. But that wasn’t for now.

The crowd of students had gotten louder, cheering and laughing as they placed their piece of the crown on their person. Sokka could honestly say that the sight was beautiful. He walked back over to the mic. “Okay, okay, Principal Pakku, I’m done now! Back to you, sir.”

Pakku rolled his eyes as Sokka sauntered to stand next to Azula who was still wearing her crown on her head. Since he was standing so close, he could tell that it was just barely uneven, a piece of her crown missing too. When he followed her gaze, he saw Ty Lee proudly attaching a piece of crown to her braid. A golden piece rather than a silver one.

Azula caught him staring and smirked, pulling him in for a super quick side hug. “Good speech,” she said, tugging her arm back to her side. “I was actually impressed.”

“Heh, thanks,” he replied. “Nice lopsided crown.”

“You were right. I could think of someone who deserved it a bit more than me.”

* * *

By the time Pakku finished his own speech, Sokka was jittery (seriously! He will not accept any scolding from the principal because he talked just as long as Sokka did but with less personality). Every so often he would check the secluded corner to make sure Zuko was still there.

Azula, ever observant, must have caught on because she had leaned closer and whispered, “He’s not going to disappear, you know.”

As soon as Pakku finished and it was socially acceptable to run off of the stage, Sokka did so. Unfortunately, his peers immediately swarmed him and he was getting smothered by hugs and “thank you’s” and “we forgive you’s”. It took Suki wrapping an arm around his shoulder and literally dragging him away from everyone to get free.

“Suki, have I ever mentioned that you’re the most amazing and badass person in the entire world?” he commented as she pulled him from the crowd.

She hummed. “I’m not sure, but you should definitely tell me a couple more times after you talk to him,” she teased.

“You think… you think he’ll hate me?” he asked quietly, trying desperately to avoid tripping over his feet, Suki’s feet, or anyone’s feet really as he struggled to keep up.

“Honey, I don’t think any of us ever _hated_ you hated you. We were just mad,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine. And after that speech? I didn’t know you had it in ya!”

“I didn’t either,” he confessed. “I thought I was going to be sick.”

Suki finally stopped outside of the school. “Figured you two would want to get out of the stuffy, crowded, loud gym. Toph’s sending Zuko your way. Good luck!” She gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek before flashing him a peace sign and taking off.

After a few agonizing minutes of making sure his hair wasn’t bumpy and attempting to check how bad his face looked through his phone camera, he spotted Zuko heading his way. Sokka hurriedly shoved his phone in his pocket, exchanging it for the silver scrap of crown.

“Zuko, hey!” he shouted, waving his hands as if they weren’t the only two outside.

“Hi, Sokka,” the slightly taller teen grinned, speeding up until they were next to each other. “I, um, I really liked your speech.”

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Heh, um, thanks, seriously. I thought I was going to puke or pass out or something, so I’m glad something good came out of it.”

There was a moment of silence, each boy fidgeting with their sleeve or trying to muster up the courage to say something. The faint pulse of music and chirp of the crickets were the only sounds that broke through the quiet night. At least, until Sokka’s instincts finally pushed words out of his mouth.

“I see stars!” he blurted out.

Faster than anything he had seen before, Zuko’s head shifted from the ground to his face.

“In-in your eyes, I mean,” Sokka stuttered. “Or, like, gah! Like I said, I’m not good at public speaking.” He threw his head in his hands, slapping his forehead a couple of times. Because this was important, this was Zuko.

“Well, I’m not the public. It’s just Zuko here.”

The raspy voice of Zuko made him peek above his hands. A lopsided, half-smile greeted him. “Breathe, Sokka. You’re fine as you are,” he muttered. “When I look at you, I see stars. You shine as bright as the sun during the day and as the moon glows at night. You are so, so beautiful. Your face and your hair and your heart-- _your heart_. You’re as beautiful as diamonds! See, that was… that was a simile, since you like English classes… but, truly! You could make diamonds dull! That’s how beautiful you are!”

A light blush dusted Zuko’s cheeks.

“I saved this last piece for you,” Sokka said, extending his arm to the slightly taller teen. He opened his palm, and there lay the last piece of his crown. “It may have been cheap and fake and like crazy easy to break, but you aren’t. You’re a star and you are real and rare and _I see you!_ No matter where I go, I can see you. In the pages of books or whenever I see something pretty. And I’m so so so super sorry that I ever made you feel like you weren’t a star. Because I did. And you deserve better. You deserve better than me. I pretended to be bad at math so you would talk to me, and I’m better at math than you are! All I had to do was talk to you, but you’re just so special and I was so awestruck I didn’t wanna mess it up. Then I infiltrated the Freedom Fighters, manipulated Jet and Smellerbee and The Duke and Pipsqueak and Longshot and the rest of them and I kept making elaborate schemes so you could see that Jet was cheating on you-- I think he feels bad about that, by the way. And once I actually took the time to get to know you, I loved you for more than your emo hair and your alluring, pretty, eyes. I loved your heart and your mind and even your scar that you’re so ashamed of. You aren’t as unloveable as you think you are! I just did a whole lot of bad and really messed things up. If you never want to be near me ever again, I get it.”

By the time he finished, he was out of breath and shaking.

Zuko was gaping. He stood frozen for a second before shaking his head and tentatively reaching out and taking the piece of crown. Sokka watched as he carefully tucked it into his hair, securing it so it wouldn’t fall.

“Sokka,” he finally said, “you did mess up. A lot. And for awhile there I was really mad at you. I don't think I am anymore. Katara came and talked to me and convinced me to come to the dance. I missed you. Like, the dorky and nerdy you. That’s the Sokka I love.”

The mathlete’s eyes bulged. “Wait, you still want to exist next to me? Like be my friend and talk to me? You don’t hate me.”

Zuko didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed Sokka’s hand and pulled him closer, leaning in until they were nose-to-nose, their lips millimeters from touching. “For the record, when I see you, I see stars too.”

Then Sokka closed the distance.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope y'all enjoyed! I might write more for this later, like a prologue of sorts? I was talking to sokka-with-his-hair-down on tumblr about the Cady and Regina bathroom scene in particular and wanted to write it, then I got carried away and wrote the Spring Fling scene because I wanted to include the others in it (and also Zukka kiss).
> 
> My tumblr is that-was-anticlimactic, if anyone wants to talk or anything:)
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day! <3


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